Pubdate: Thu, 29 Nov 2007
Source: McGill Daily, The (CN QU Edu)
Copyright: 2007 The McGill Daily
Contact:  http://www.mcgilldaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2638
Author: Ariel Leftkowitz
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)

POLICE UNDERMINE HARM REDUCTION PROGRAMS, EXPERTS SAY

Conflicting Government Branches Impede Success Of Needle And Syringe Programs

Without access to clean needles, illicit drug users (IDUs) must 
resort to desperate measures.

"I would be using a needle for 30 hits where I was taking a hammer 
and knocking it into my arm because it was so not sharp anymore," 
said Darlene Palmer, a community worker with local harm reduction 
centre CACTUS Montreal, and a former drug user.

Palmer spoke at a panel at McGill on Monday night, "Directions of 
Harm Reduction Policy in Canada," one of the events of World AIDS 
Week, organized by McGill Global AIDS Coalition. The panellists 
decried the government's failure to provide Canadians with effective 
Needle and Syringe Programs (NSPs).

Despite the World Health Organization's endorsement of NSPs, and 
despite what panellist and Boulton Fellow of McGill's Law faculty 
Alana Klein called "the vast body of scientific literature supporting 
harm reduction programs," Palmer said she is still accused of 
encouraging drug use by working at CACTUS Montreal.

Palmer said that harm reduction centres helped her and other IDUs 
feel like they have people that care about them, while reducing their 
risk of contracting HIV through needle sharing.

"But CACTUS had no impact on whether or not I would use in a night," 
Palmer said.

Canada's police forces have strongly objected to NSPs. In 2005, the 
Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police adopted a resolution that 
discouraged harm reduction programs. The resolution reads, in part: 
"Harm reduction policies mislead people into thinking they can use 
drugs 'safely.'"

"Police are actively undermining programs that governments are trying 
to create," Klein said. "One branch of government is giving a service 
and another branch of government is taking it away.. It's not a 
coherent program."

Palmer said that police officers linger around harm reduction centres 
and make people nervous about getting prevention materials like 
needles and condoms.

"Women ask for three condoms even though I know they're going to do 
about 15 clients that night. When I ask them why, they say that if 
they have anything more than three condoms in their pockets, they're 
going to be stopped by the police for looking like prostitutes. 
They'll use the three condoms and the rest are at their own risk," Palmer said.

Panellists said the police and government resistance to NSPs means 
the needs of HIV sufferers are being neglected.

About 58,000 Canadians have HIV or AIDS, and 17, 000 of them live in 
Quebec, but the federal government is failing to follow through on 
its promises, panellists said.

"Harm reduction is part of the federal drug strategy. It's just that 
it's not being funded [by the federal government], at all," Klein 
said. "These programs are cheap, they're very cheap."

According to Kevin Barlow, executive director of the Canadian 
Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN), drug injections account for 
two-thirds of new HIV cases among indigenous peoples, and that eight 
to 10 new cases arise each week in that population.

He accused Tony Clement, the conservative Health Minister, of 
dismissing drug users as "partiers."

"I hope that more people tell the government that it's not just a 
party. It's a real problem," Barlow said. "We have to be able to 
counter a government that just wants to play partisan politics."

Palmer also asserted that those in power were unaware of the severity 
of the issue.

"Maybe if we take the deciders and put them in front of someone who 
is using a TV antenna to inject, and see what that does to a person's 
physical body, they'll learn to be more open," she said.

Harm reduction centres also allow community workers to improve IDUs' 
mental health.

"If that person comes and gets needles, I have a minute or two to 
check whether they're eating somewhere, sleeping somewhere," Palmer 
said. "[The IDUs] start saying that it has a funny impact on their 
using. They say they don't want to be fucked up when they come here, 
because they want to be part of the radio show at CACTUS or some 
other program we have."

Palmer said her history of drug use has helped her understand the 
mentality of IDUs.

"I have a doctorate in using drugs," Palmer said. "I paid a lot of 
money to learn what it is about."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom